Grand Admiral Thrawn is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He appeared as the eponymous character in the Thrawn trilogies of novels by Timothy Zahn. An Imperial military leader and a member of the Chiss race, Thrawn leads remnants of the scattered Galactic Empire in the aftermath of its fall.
NECA/WizKids, LLC is an American company based in New Jersey that produces tabletop games. WizKids is best known for its collectible miniatures games (CMGs) Mage Knight, HeroClix, MechWarrior, and HorrorClix, all of which make use of the company's Clix system, in which the changing combat statistics and abilities of each figure were indicated by a turnable dial inside the base underneath the figure. The company was founded in 2000 by Jordan Weisman, a veteran of the game company FASA. It was purchased by sports-card manufacturer Topps, Inc. in 2003.
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniature games, and tabletop role-playing games published in 2004. For video games, see 2004 in video gaming.
A toy soldier is a miniature figurine that represents a soldier. The term applies to depictions of uniformed military personnel from all eras, and includes knights, cowboys, American Indians, pirates, samurai, and other subjects that involve combat-related themes. Toy soldiers vary from simple playthings to highly realistic and detailed models. The latter are of more recent development and are sometimes called model figures to distinguish them from traditional toy soldiers. Larger scale toys such as dolls and action figures may come in military uniforms, but they are not generally considered toy soldiers.
Collectible miniatures games (CMGs) are a form of miniatures game that is also similar to collectible card games (CCGs) — the primary difference being that while CCGs are card-based games, CMGs feature miniature figures.
A collectible action figure game is a collectible tabletop game in which the primary component is some sort of action figure. The first collectible action figure game was Mark Rein-Hagen's Z-G. Subsequent collectible action figure games have included WizKids' Shadowrun Duels, Toy Biz's Marvel Legends Showdown, and Hasbro's XEVOZ and Attacktix games.
The National Entertainment Collectibles Association is an American manufacturer of collectibles typically licensed from films, video-games, sports, music, and television based in New Jersey. The company was founded in 1996 and has over 60 licenses for which it produces products.
The Attacktix Battle Figure Game was a collectable action figure game produced by Hasbro, released 2005 through 2006 and featuring characters from the Star Wars, Transformers, and Marvel Comics franchises. Many of the action figures are sold in starter sets in quantities of five or in quantities of three in a booster pack. Most figures average approximately 3.5 inches tall with other larger sized "mega" figures and vehicles. The figures sport a wide variety of spring-loaded action features such as projectile launchers and swinging close combat parts. The goal of the Attacktix game is to physically knock down the opponent's figures. It has been compared to another miniatures game, HeroClix.
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and tabletop role-playing games published in 2006. For video games, see 2006 in video gaming.
HorrorClix is a collectible miniatures game. Released on August 30, 2006, it uses WizKids' Clix system. The game's tagline is "wicked fun." The product was discontinued in November 2008 when WizKids' new owner Topps shut down the company. In September 2009, collectible toy producer NECA announced it had purchased WizKids' intellectual property from Topps, including HorrorClix.
Shadowrun Duels is a collectible miniatures game published by WizKids in 2003 that was based on the Shadowrun role-playing game originally produced by FASA Corporation.
Funko Inc. is an American company that manufactures licensed and limited pop culture collectibles, best known for its licensed vinyl figurines and bobbleheads. In addition, the company produces licensed plush, action figures, apparel, accessories and games. Founded in 1998 by Mike Becker and Claudia Becker, Funko was originally conceived as a small project to create various low-tech, nostalgia-themed toys. The company's first manufactured bobblehead was of the Big Boy mascot, the well-known restaurant advertising icon.
Hot Toys Limited is a Hong Kong production house for designing, developing, and manufacturing highly detailed collectible merchandise to worldwide markets. Established in 2000 in Hong Kong, the company initially focused on producing 1:6 scale US Army Special Forces action figures. It then transitioned to production of high-end figures based on media properties, primarily under their Movie Masterpiece Series brand. Their team of artists is led by sculptor Yulli and painter JC Hong.
Frank Castle / The Punisher, a vigilante antihero created by Marvel Comics, has appeared in various mediums of media. Since the character's creation in 1974, he has appeared in films, television, and video games. The character, and his symbol have featured on products and merchandise.
Formed in 1975, Ral Partha Enterprises, Inc. of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, is now known as Ral Partha Legacy Ltd. and produces miniature figures in 25 mm, 30 mm, 15 mm, and 54 mm scale. The company's products are made by spin-casting metal alloys which depict soldiers, adventurers and creatures that have been inspired by history and fiction. Their miniatures are sold at gaming conventions, in hobby shops, and by internet and mail order for use in role playing games, wargaming, dioramas, competitive painting, and collecting.
Diamond Select Toys was founded in 1999 by sister company Diamond Comics Distributors to create collectibles for adult collectors, and has since licensed a variety of pop culture properties, including Marvel Comics, Star Wars, Star Trek, Transformers, Ghostbusters, Halo, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Indiana Jones, Battlestar Galactica, 24, The Muppets and Back to the Future. While they have made collectibles in numerous product categories, including action figures, plush, banks, busts, statues and prop replicas, many of their licensed properties are released in the form of Minimates mini-figures.
Starfleet Wars, a space battle game by Superior Models, Inc. featuring five races: Terrans, Entomalians, Avarians, Aquarians and Carnivorans. It was sold to Gamemasters in 1997, and then was off the market until Monday Knight Productions re-introduced it. Introduced in 1978 and designed by Wayne Smith and Ron Spicer, Starfleet Wars was a dice-rolling simultaneous-action spaceship war game with miniature lead figures.
Clix is a miniatures wargaming system developed by WizKids. It is characterized by the use of a dial wheel in the base of miniature figurines. The dial can be turned to reveal hidden information, representing the changing statistics of the figurine as the game progresses. This has been rebranded into the Combat Dial System by WizKids.
HeroClix is a collectible miniatures game that uses the Clix system that centers on the world of superhero comic books, especially the DC Comics and Marvel Comics universes like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, and many others. Players construct teams of comic book heroes, villains, or characters from various video games series such as Street Fighter, Gears of War, and Halo and engage in a turn-by-turn battle on grid maps based on various storyline locations. The game was originally designed and produced by WizKids, but was discontinued in November 2008 when WizKids owner Topps shut down their HeroClix line. In September 2009, collectible toy producer National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA) purchased some of the WizKids' intellectual property from Topps, including the HeroClix rights and then soon after began to produce and sell new HeroClix series.